French Megacampaign, pt. I - Glory of the Capets (1066 - 1453)

[Enewald]

Poland looks too unnatural.

 

[General_BT]

Emperor Xenophon is an epic name. Louis' France looks like it shrunk slightly in north Spain, but the royal demense is just massive. Early centralization?

 

[unmerged(62281)]

As we are all cheering about the awesomeness of Emperor Xenophon re-christened Nestor...The list of Kings for each kingdom in CK!
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List of Kings 1066-1200

England
William I (1066-1080)
Robert I (1080-1096)
Humphrey I (1096-1120)
Edward I (1120-1170)
Alan I (1170-1178)
Lothaire I (1178-...)

Scotland
Malcolm III (1058-1097)
Duncan II (1097-1123)
Tuathal I (1123-1191 - current recordholder!)
Denis I (1191-1194)
Philipp I (1194-...)

Castile
Sancho II (1065-1068)
Alfonso VI (1068-1088)
Juan I (1088-1141)
Alfonso VII (1141-1166)
Pelayo II (1166-1171)
Alfonso VIII (1171-...)

Aragon:
Sancho I Jimenez (1063-1088)
Odo I of Lomagne (1088)
Odo II of Lomagne (1088)
Muslim conquest
Ricardo I Capet (Richard I, 1105-1116)
Carlos I Capet (Charles V, 1116-1144)
Luis I Capet (Louis VI, 1144-1194)
Paulo I d'Armagnac (1194-...)

Holy Roman Empire/Germany:
Heinrich IV von Franken (1056-1096)
Dietmar von Franken (1096-1140)
Ernst von Babenberg (1140-1152)
Friedrich von Babenberg (1152-1188)
Konrad III von Provence (1188-1195)
Stefan von Provence (1195-...)

Italy:
Teodorico (1096-1140)
Ottone IV (1140-1153)
Gerardo (1153-1156)
Federico (1156-1195)
Lotario III (1195-...)

Popes (I chose the Papal Names randomly):
Alexander II (1061-1075)
Gregory VII (1075-1077)
John XX (1077-1112)
Gregory VIII (1112-1116)
Pontian II (1116-1122)
Benedict X (1122-1138)
Urban II (1138-1147)
Gregory IX (1147-1160)
Paschal II (1160-1164)
Romanus II (1164-1167)
Leon X (1167-1171)
Clement III (1171-1174)
Paschal III (1174-1175)
Linus II (1175-1188)
John XXI (1188-1193)
Pelagius III (1193-1195)
Valentin II (1195-1196)
Nicholas III (1196-...)

Sicily:
Robert I Guiscard (1057-1074)
Roger I Borsa (1074-1113)
Robert II (1113-1163)
Robert III (1163-1174)
Helvise (1174-1190)
Lancelin (1190-1199)
Valdrade (1199-...)

Croatia:
Kresimir IV (1058-1076)
Dmitar I (1076-1089)
Hranislav I (1089-1136)
Kulin I (1136-1137)
Miroslav II (1137-1160)
Simun I (1160-1175)
Janko I (1175-1182)
Henrik von Nordheim (1182-...)

Byzantine Empire:
Constantine X Dukas (1059-1067)
Michael VII Dukas (1067-1070)
Nestor I Teampalkon (1070-1071)
Romanus IV Diogenes (1071-1076)
Constantine XI Diogenes (1076-1084)
David I Diogenes (1084-1128)
David II Diogenes (1128-1167)
Nestor II Diogenes (1167-1184)
Isaac II Diogenes (1184-1200)
Arkadios II Diogenes (1200-...)

Hungary:
Solomon (1063-1095)
Geza I (1095-1109)
Coloman (1109-1122)
Erik I (1122-1153)
Sandor (1153-1186)
Stephen II (1186-1190)
Angela (1190-...)

Poland:
Boleslas II (1058-1108)
Mieszko III (1108-1128)
Casimir II (1128-1178)
Boleslas III (1178-1200)
Nezamysl (1200-...)

Bohemia:
Vratislav I (1075-1087)
Bavor I (1087-1103)
Boldizzar (1103-1123)
Konrad I (1123-1169)
Jozsef I (1169-1185)
Vratislav II (1185-1188)
Jozsef II (1188-...)

Russian Empire:
Rosmag I (1125-1162)
Vasilii (1162-1164)
Durgulel (1164-1185)
Dmitrii (1185-...)

Sweden:
Eric VIII (1066-1118)
Halsten I (1118-1134)
Johan I (1134-1137)
Jedward I (1137-1158)
Magnus III (1158-1170)
Edmund (1170-1183)
Inge I (1183-...)

Norway:
Magnus II (1066-1067)
Olaf III (1067-1076)
Harald IV (1076-1095)
Haldor (1195-1144)
Sigurd (1144-1170)
Erling (1170-...)

Denmark:
Sveyn (1047-1074)
Harald III (1074-1086)
Lambert (1086-1125)
Reinhard (1125-1141)
Reinhard II (1141-1172)
Robert (1172-1180)
Albert (1180-...)

Seljuk Turks:
Alp Arslan (1063-1097)
Kutalmis (1097-1114)
Porsuk (1114-1138)
Baturay (1138-1152)
Davud (1152-1160)
Itri (1160-1178)
Zigza (1178-1198)
Annaber (1198-...)

Fatimids:
Al Mustansir (1035-1083)
Al-Mustali (1083)
Ammuc (1083-1130)
Ifser (1130-1142)
Muzaffar (1142-1150)
Nasraddin (1150-...)

Almoravids:
Yusuf ibn Tachfin (1061-1087)
Abu Bakr (1087-1090)
Ismail (1090-1097)
Gildun (1097-1120)
Sifak Mustafa (1120-1132)
Menzu Mustafa (1132-1180)
Amray Mustafa (1180-...)

 

[unmerged(59077)]

Caucasian/Alan names in Russia? Makes sense.

Lancelin and Valdrade - beautiful!

Croatia, after a string of beautifully Slavic names ended up with a German. Le sigh.

 

[Hawkeye1489]

I do like the names you have chosen for the Papacy...talk about digging up some of the really old ones At any rate, good job thus far. Should be interesting to see what out next King does.

 

[cosmeIII]

This is a great AAR, I like how you put a description and then some screenshots to see what it means ingame, and those maps at the end of each post, lovely.

 

[aussieboy]

Heh, the Holy Roman Empire should be French! Whoever's next should not listen to the German and Italian idiots who claim otherwise!

 

[unmerged(62281)]

Guillaume I le Bâtisseur (the Builder-King)
1201-1230​

Duke of Valois and Aquitaine 1186-1201, King of France, Britanny, Aquitaine, Burgundy and Jerusalem 1201-1230, King of Navarra 1201-1203
Lived 1176-1230
Son of Robert, Duke of Valois and Fressenda Drengot (of the Sicilian Royal Court)

Married:
1) Etiennette Jimenez, cousin to the Kings of Castile
2) Maysant de Hauteville, sister to King Lancelin of Sicily

Brother of:
1) Aimeric
2) Almodis, married Alan Duke of Britanny
3) Eve
4) Emeline

Father of
1) Charles VI, who follows
2) Simon I, King of Navarra
3) Alice, Queen of Sweden (to Magnus IV)
4) Bertrand, Duke of Britanny
5) Emma, Countess of Salzburg
6) Eudes

Like the Poissy branch, the Valois branch of the Capetian dynasty was not deemed to rule one day over France: like the extinct branch, the Valois formed descent of one of the many bastards of Philippe I the Venerer. Guillaume himself, Duke of Valois and Aquitaine, aged 25 when he rose to the throne of France, was the great-great-grandson of Philippe I through his legitimated bastard Raoul d’Orléans, whose children went to the Holy Land to serve the short-lived Kingdom of Jérusalem, and then the interests of the dynasty in Southwestern France. Guillaume’s father, Robert, had been the heir presumptive to Louis VI, who died without any legitimate male heir.

When he arose to the throne, Guillaume I was viewed as a generous yet tough warrior, who had helped his cousin Louis to fight the rebellious barons in the last years of his reign: he would gain his nickname of the Builder-King by the end of the construction of the Royal Palace in Paris, who would be known as Palais de la Cité, built on the Cité Island in Paris, in 1202: even if the palace’s building had begun more than 25 years ago, the Palais de la Cité was definitely rattached to the reign of Guillaume I, along with all the castles Guillaume built throughout the country, in the royal demesne or the provinces he occupied, in Britanny (conquered from 1204 to 1205) or during the trouble times in the 1210s. Known as the Gulielmi Castles (from the Latin Name of King Guillaume), these strong castles dominated French landscapes throughout centuries. When his advisors told the King the castles he was busy spending so much to built them could be used by his rebellious vassals to resist him, Guillaume famously replied that “Thus, it will such an honor to the Crown to claim and destroy them…And to build them again”.

Along with these great works, Guillaume inaugurated the foreign and internal policies of the Valois dynasty, that would be known to historians as “Reductions”: French finances were crippled by the oversized royal demesne, which were far more too difficult to entertain and control, but also by the sporadic revolts of the Dukes and Counts of the Kingdom: in order to relinquish some of his titles and to have less territory to control, Guillaume I famously gave to his son Simon the Kingdom of Navarre in 1203, when he was only 4 years old, in order to finish the disengagement of France from the Iberic Peninsula (and maybe to respect the memory of her deceased wife, Etiennette, cousin to the King of Castile, who died before she was crowned; by the way, Simon, becoming Jimeno I of Navarra, would reign from 1203 to 1254).

In the same ways, the pious Guillaume vehemently denounced the heretic beliefs of Duke Rudolf of Flanders and launched an expedition to the British Isles, with the approval of new King Herbert, in 1208 to 1209, in order to expel the Muslim adventurers who had managed to take control of most of Wales and Eastern Ireland; but the freed provinces were given plain independence and not integrated to the Kingdom of France.

But as of Louis VI, the reign of Guillaume I, despite his great personal faith, was entached with bad relations with the Papacy: the election of the bishop of Gand to the Holy See under the name of Gregory X meant that half of Flanders, next to Paris, were going to a potential enemy; an invasion of both Flanders and the Papal States was decided, crushing the Papal forces in two years, and leaving Gregory X as a broken man in 1210, who would die two years later. The very same year, the Kingdom of France strengthened its presence in the Italian Peninsula, organizing the wedding of the powerful yet fragile Queen Regnant of Sicily, Valdrade de Hauteville, and Charles, eldest son and heir to Guillaume, thus uniting two of the most powerful dynasties in western Europe, and returning the Valois branch to its Italian roots, as Guillaume was the son of a Norman Sicilian noblewoman, and had married a second time with Valdrade’s aunt, Maysant.

From 1212 to 1220, the kingdom of France was deeply shaken by a series of revolts from various dukes who had various motives, from contesting the elevation of Guillaume to the throne (such as Rudolf of Flanders, who insulted the King at a tournament) to supporting the Papacy. The revolts were crushed, taken into the King’s patronage who in turn engaged great works in the devasted provinces (thus his nickname of the Builder-King), and were without any incident: only in 1217, during the siege of Bourges, where the King’s horse was killed. Seeing that Guillaume had felt, many Frenchmen believed he died, but his broken leg was quickly cured by a competent doctor and everything went for the better. The revolts ended in 1220 with the arbitration of Pope Alexander III, with whom Guillaume had a private audience and accepted to support the royal rule on the Church of France; the last rebels, Normandy, surrendered in 1221, and Duke Bertrand, one of Guillaume’ sons, received the turbulent duchy of Britanny after he was revealed as a bastard son.

In the 1220s, while the castles engaged by the Builder-King were achieved, the Kingdom of France entered a period of peace, considered by many historians as “the Frankish Golden Age”, where the rebels had been all defeated by the King, and religious peace guaranteed by the friendship between Guillaume and Pope Alexander III. The early XIIIth Century, and the century as a whole, would be remembered as the era of the development of universities throughout Europe, of both profane and religious arts. It was in this peaceful France, under the Valois branch, that were implemented the seeds of the future Renaissance: and it was in this peaceful France that Guillaume I died peacefully in his sleep, during a night of July, in 1230, aged only 54 but prematurely old. He would be remembered by many peasants as the “Good King Guillaume”, sometimes borrowing his glory to another Guillaume, better known as William the Conqueror, King of England; he continues to be remembered by his massive castles, scaterred throughout the country.

On the left, the Kingdom of France in 1201, on the beginning of Guillaume I's reign; on the right, on the end, in 1230. Royal demesne in is dark blue, French vassals in lighter blue.

 

[unmerged(62281)]

Now, I will be starting a little poll: do you like the style of this AAR? Is my poor English not too painful to read? Would like some updates on particular aspects?

As for Fatimid Wales, you see, I made as quick as I could to remove this nonsense. The Islamic Wurtemberg was also destroyed by my good German neighbour.

General_BT: I think, as the finances don't follow, that this centralization is way too early, but here's the spirit.

Hawkeye1489: If you read well the Pope names, by 1066, no new Papal Names were created until John Paul I in 1978: it was all about taking all and fruity names. If you see one most used papal name such as Pius, it was only digged in 1458, and not to honor an obscure martyr of the First Century, but as a literary reference to Virgil's Aeneid, for the Pius (Pious) Aeneas.

 

[unmerged(166917)]

Now, I will be starting a little poll: do you like the style of this AAR? Is my poor English not too painful to read? Would like some updates on particular aspects?

The style is just perfect for my taste.
Your English is absolutely ok as far as I'm concerned...but well I'm French...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I agree with Karaiskandar, and I'm not French . It's fine for me. Your style, I mean, not the fact of not being French. Well, that's also fine. For Karaiskandar, I mean.:rofl:

 

[Director]

There will be a maximum of 20 screenshots per post allowed in any AAR post. Use proper discretion in screenshot usage and be mindful of your readers and the moderators computer load time. A helpful warning could be added to your title if you plan on having a screenshot heavy AAR. This rule will be watched closely.

Please attend to the above rule immediately. Please do not attempt to get around this rule by putting a few pics in 20 different posts unless the posts are spread over several days.


Karaiskandar, if you are not going to post a comment then you will be guilty of spamming. I am removing your post. Feel free to post if you have more to say than a lol-icon.​

 

[unmerged(127999)]

There will be a maximum of 20 screenshots per post allowed in any AAR post. Use proper discretion in screenshot usage and be mindful of your readers and the moderators computer load time. A helpful warning could be added to your title if you plan on having a screenshot heavy AAR. This rule will be watched closely.

Please attend to the above rule immediately. Please do not attempt to get around this rule by putting a few pics in 20 different posts unless the posts are spread over several days.


Karaiskandar, if you are not going to post a comment then you will be guilty of spamming. I am removing your post. Feel free to post if you have more to say than a lol-icon.​

Quick question: What if a bunch of the pics are combined into one? Since that will cut down on the amount of screenshots, that will make it easier to obey the limit, right?

 

[unmerged(166917)]

I agree with Karaiskandar, and I'm not French . It's fine for me. Your style, I mean, not the fact of not being French. Well, that's also fine. For Karaiskandar, I mean.:rofl:

Good one. :rofl:

Would like some updates on particular aspects?

A rest of the world overview from time to time is always appreciated.
Maybe a sort of family tree as well for the main dynasties.

 

[Enewald]

I am very satisfied with this AAR.
Nothing needs to change, that be opinion o mine.

 

[unmerged(59077)]

The style is good, very Secondary Source History.

Regarding pictures: cropping them and combining them into a large and more comprehensive grahpic aid could be good, especially since you post them en masse anyway.

 

[Director]

Quick question: What if a bunch of the pics are combined into one? Since that will cut down on the amount of screenshots, that will make it easier to obey the limit, right?

The idea is to reduce the load on the Paradox servers and to speed up the time it takes the pics to load. Trading 20 small pics for 1 or 2 giant ones is not really going to help.

Please use only graphics that are essential to the story. 20 pics is still a REALLY big limit, but abuse will cause Paradox to define that number down. They make no money from the forums, aside from the fact that satisfied customers buy more Paradox games. And they spend quite a lot on the servers and staff. So let's make it easy on them to continue to provide the free service, OK?

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Moar, please?

 

[Sergei Meranov]

This is a great AAR! Keep the updates coming before we get rowdy.

 

[Alfredian]

This reads really well.

It is also good that you have been brave enough to give away some royal titles to stop France getting ridiculously large.